08-07-2011, 04:14 PM
Tampa Bay online
The last time Brendon Bookman saw his fiancee, Lee Grace Elizabeth Dougherty, was over the weekend, when she left to help her brother Ryan Dougherty with the pending birth of a child.
"She was going to help Ryan's baby momma get ready," says Bookman, 45, a college math professor. "She was eight days away from giving birth. The biggest thing she needed was a healthy baby and a clean house. Lee Grace was excellent at cleaning and wanted to be there for moral support."
Bookman said he knows that probably won't happen. Neither, he said, will the marriage they were planning.
Police say his fiancee, a 29-year-old part-time dancer at a Cocoa Beach topless club called Cheaters, and brothers Dylan Dougherty Stanley, 26, and Ryan Edward Dougherty, 21, are heavily armed and on the run. Dubbed the "Dougherty Gang," they are accused of shooting at a Zephyrhills police officer Tuesday morning, then staging an armed bank robbery in Valdosta, Ga., later that day.
"It's hard for me to see this turning out happily," said Bookman. "But if it doesn't, I treasured the time I had with Lee Grace. She touched me in a way neither of my wives came close."
Bookman said he met Lee Grace Dougherty at a college in Orlando he won't name. She was a former student.
Romance blossomed and the two had been living together for seven months. He describes Lee Grace Dougherty as athletic, a great swimmer and good with kids. But she had "a sadness," he said.
A few years back, her father died. On her 25th birthday, her sister Erin, who was 27, died.
Bookman recalls the Dougherty brothers as strong young men always willing to help. Dylan Dougherty Stanley was particularly handy, said Bookman.
News of the crime spree, Bookman said, was shocking.
But there were recent indications of trouble, according to Brevard County court records.
On May 7, Dougherty crashed a car, then attacked a deputy who responded. She was charged with DUI, battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest with violence and driving with a suspended license. She was supposed to attend a drug treatment program.
Ten days later, she was involved in a hit-and-run crash.
On Thursday, a probation officer went to check up on Dougherty, but by then, she was already on the run.
![[Image: t0805-pasiblings]](http://www2.tbo.com/mgmedia/image/0/354/130713/t0805-pasiblings/)
here's the professor's mugshot, arrest for battery.
![[Image: 11_05_17_320521.jpg]](http://florida.arrests.org/mugs/Brevard/11_05_17_320521.jpg)
their "bunker"
![[Image: article-2023479-0D572DA300000578-940_468x328.jpg]](http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/08/07/article-2023479-0D572DA300000578-940_468x328.jpg)
The last time Brendon Bookman saw his fiancee, Lee Grace Elizabeth Dougherty, was over the weekend, when she left to help her brother Ryan Dougherty with the pending birth of a child.
"She was going to help Ryan's baby momma get ready," says Bookman, 45, a college math professor. "She was eight days away from giving birth. The biggest thing she needed was a healthy baby and a clean house. Lee Grace was excellent at cleaning and wanted to be there for moral support."
Bookman said he knows that probably won't happen. Neither, he said, will the marriage they were planning.
Police say his fiancee, a 29-year-old part-time dancer at a Cocoa Beach topless club called Cheaters, and brothers Dylan Dougherty Stanley, 26, and Ryan Edward Dougherty, 21, are heavily armed and on the run. Dubbed the "Dougherty Gang," they are accused of shooting at a Zephyrhills police officer Tuesday morning, then staging an armed bank robbery in Valdosta, Ga., later that day.
"It's hard for me to see this turning out happily," said Bookman. "But if it doesn't, I treasured the time I had with Lee Grace. She touched me in a way neither of my wives came close."
Bookman said he met Lee Grace Dougherty at a college in Orlando he won't name. She was a former student.
Romance blossomed and the two had been living together for seven months. He describes Lee Grace Dougherty as athletic, a great swimmer and good with kids. But she had "a sadness," he said.
A few years back, her father died. On her 25th birthday, her sister Erin, who was 27, died.
Bookman recalls the Dougherty brothers as strong young men always willing to help. Dylan Dougherty Stanley was particularly handy, said Bookman.
News of the crime spree, Bookman said, was shocking.
But there were recent indications of trouble, according to Brevard County court records.
On May 7, Dougherty crashed a car, then attacked a deputy who responded. She was charged with DUI, battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest with violence and driving with a suspended license. She was supposed to attend a drug treatment program.
Ten days later, she was involved in a hit-and-run crash.
On Thursday, a probation officer went to check up on Dougherty, but by then, she was already on the run.
here's the professor's mugshot, arrest for battery.
their "bunker"